CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WASTE WATER FROM NIGERIA BREWERIES

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on the chemical characteristics of waste water from Nigeria Breweries. For a total period of four months, waste water, water and soil samples were collected on a monthly basis from an industrial area in Nnewi in Anambra State in order to determine their constituents. A total of twenty six parameters were analyzed for waste water and water, while a total of fourteen parameters were analyzed for soil. The result showed that waste water from the industry (Nigeria Breweries) contained a number of contaminants which contaminate the soil and nearby river. Correlation technique was used to determine the degree of relationship between nitrate content and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) values of the waste water and water; and to determine the degree of relationship between the pH values and the Arsenic content of the soil. There was a generally low negative correlation for all the months for the waste water (-0.58, -0.07, -0.09, and 0.47 respectively for July, August, September and October) and soil (-0.03, -0.66, and -0.54 for July, August and October respectively) except for the month of September (0.06) that had a very low positive correlation between the pH and Conductivity values of the soil. The student t-test with N+ N- 2 degree of freedom was used to test for the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the Alkalinity and Chloride contents of the waste water and water. The environmental implications established that Ele River as well as the soil in the area is polluted at varying levels by waste water from the industry and surrounding environment.

CHAPTER ONE:l

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Industrial wastewater discharge remains one of the most persistent sources of environmental pollution in Nigeria, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas where manufacturing facilities operate in close proximity to residential communities, farmland, and surface water bodies. Brewery operations, which combine large-volume water use in the brewing and bottling process with organically rich waste streams from spent grain, yeast, and cleaning agents, are widely recognized internationally as generating effluent with high concentrations of biochemical and chemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, and, depending on the specific processes and materials involved, measurable concentrations of heavy metals and other chemical contaminants. Where this effluent is inadequately treated before discharge, the surrounding soil and water bodies bear the resulting environmental burden, with consequences for both ecological health and the wellbeing of nearby communities that depend on affected land and water resources.

Nigerian research examining brewery effluent across several states provides a consistent, if geographically varied, picture of the specific contaminants involved and their environmental impact. A study of effluent discharged from Nigeria Breweries Plc in Enugu found that industrial wastewater from the facility had a measurable adverse effect on the water quality of the receiving surface water body, with several physicochemical parameters recorded above acceptable regulatory limits (Egwuonwu, Uzoije, Okafor, Ezeanya, & Nwachukwu, 2012). A more recent study of effluent from Interfact Brewery Plc in Onitsha, Anambra State, the same state within which Nnewi, the location of the present study, is situated, found that nearly all measured parameters from the brewery's wastewater treatment plant, including biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand, exceeded both Nigerian industrial standards and World Health Organization limits, with the study's statistical analysis confirming these elevated levels were not attributable to chance variation (Odenigbo et al., 2021). A comparable study of effluent from Consolidated Breweries in Benue State similarly analysed twenty physicochemical and heavy metal parameters, finding that while several parameters, including pH, conductivity, and chloride, fell within World Health Organization limits, turbidity, sulfate, and phosphate exceeded these limits, and that heavy metal concentrations of chromium, nickel, lead, manganese, arsenic, and cadmium were each higher than World Health Organization permissible levels, with the accompanying ecological risk assessment indicating low to moderate risk specifically from arsenic, lead, and nickel (Nweke, Okechukwu, Omokpariola, Umeh, & Oze, 2023).

Beyond brewery-specific studies, broader Nigerian research on industrial effluent and soil contamination reinforces the environmental pathway this study is concerned with, namely the movement of contaminants from wastewater into surrounding soil. A study of effluent discharged within Nigeria's Challawa Industrial Area found significant heavy metal contamination in soils receiving industrial effluent, with concentrations of several metals exceeding permissible limits and correlating with proximity to the discharge point, illustrating how untreated or poorly treated industrial wastewater can measurably degrade soil quality over time, a pathway highly relevant to the soil sampling component of the present study (Darma, Zakari, Sani, & Mamman, 2024). Taken together, this body of research confirms that brewery effluent in Nigeria, across multiple states and specific facilities, has repeatedly been found to contain contaminant levels exceeding both national and international standards, with documented consequences for receiving surface water and, in related industrial contexts, for surrounding soil. It is against this established pattern that the present study examines the specific chemical characteristics of wastewater discharged from Nigeria Breweries operations in the Nnewi industrial area of Anambra State, and its measurable impact on nearby soil and river water quality.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Nigerian brewery operations, across multiple states and facilities, have been repeatedly documented as discharging wastewater containing physicochemical and heavy metal parameters exceeding regulatory and international standards, with measurable adverse effects on receiving surface water bodies (Egwuonwu et al., 2012; Odenigbo et al., 2021; Nweke et al., 2023). Related industrial research has further shown that such contamination extends beyond surface water into surrounding soil, where it can persist and accumulate over time (Darma, Zakari, Sani, & Mamman, 2024). Despite this established pattern in states such as Enugu, Anambra (Onitsha), and Benue, there is limited site-specific data on the chemical characteristics of wastewater discharged from Nigeria Breweries operations within the Nnewi industrial area of Anambra State specifically, and on the extent to which this discharge is contaminating the soil and the Ele River in the immediate vicinity. Without such site-specific analysis, the true scope of environmental pollution in this particular locality, and its implications for the surrounding community and ecosystem, remains inadequately documented. It is this gap that the present study seeks to address.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

In order to achieve the aim of the study, the following objectives were pursued. The specific objectives were to:

1. Ascertain the raw materials and production processes employed at Nigeria Breweries.
2. Establish the physiochemical constituents of waste water from Nigeria Breweries.
3. Establish the extent of pollutant inload and determine the impact of untreated waste water from Nigeria Breweries on the soil and surface water quality of the area.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What raw materials and production processes are employed at Nigeria Breweries?
2. What are the physiochemical constituents of wastewater from Nigeria Breweries?
3. What is the extent of pollutant inload, and what impact does untreated wastewater from Nigeria Breweries have on the soil and surface water quality of the area?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the alkalinity and chloride contents of the wastewater and the receiving water.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between nitrate content and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) values of the wastewater and water.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between the pH values and the Arsenic content of the soil.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study will benefit environmental regulatory agencies, including the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and the relevant Anambra State environmental protection authority, by providing site-specific evidence of pollutant levels to guide enforcement and monitoring activities. It will benefit Nigeria Breweries and similar industrial operators, by highlighting specific parameters requiring improved wastewater treatment. It will benefit residents of the Nnewi industrial area and communities along the Ele River, whose health and livelihoods may be affected by soil and water contamination. Finally, the study will serve as a reference for future researchers examining industrial effluent characteristics and environmental pollution in Nigeria.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study is limited to examining the chemical characteristics of wastewater discharged from Nigeria Breweries operations in the Nnewi industrial area of Anambra State, and its impact on nearby soil and the Ele River, based on samples collected monthly over a four-month period.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The four-month sampling period, while sufficient to capture monthly variation, does not capture full annual or seasonal variation in effluent characteristics. Access to detailed internal production process data from Nigeria Breweries was limited in some respects. Laboratory analysis was constrained by the availability of testing equipment and reagents for the full range of parameters examined.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Wastewater: Water that has been used in an industrial or domestic process and contains waste materials, requiring treatment before safe discharge into the environment. Physicochemical Parameters: Physical and chemical properties of a substance, such as pH, temperature, conductivity, and chemical oxygen demand, used to characterize water or wastewater quality. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): A measure of the amount of oxygen required to chemically oxidize organic and inorganic matter in water or wastewater. Pollutant Inload: The quantity and concentration of pollutants entering a given environmental medium, such as soil or a water body, from a specific source. Effluent: Liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea, typically as a by-product of an industrial process.

REFERENCES

Darma, A. I., Zakari, S. A., Sani, A., & Mamman, H. S. (2024). Soil pollution and heavy metal contamination: Insight from effluent discharged from Challawa Industrial Area, Nigeria. FUDMA Journal of Sciences, 8(6), 355–361.

Egwuonwu, C. C., Uzoije, A. P., Okafor, V. C., Ezeanya, N. C., & Nwachukwu, M. U. (2012). Evaluation of the effects of industrial wastewater discharge on surface water (A case study of Nigeria Breweries Plc Enugu). Greener Journal of Physical Sciences, 2(3), 56–63.

Nweke, E. N., Okechukwu, V. U., Omokpariola, D. O., Umeh, T. C., & Oze, N. R. (2023). Pollution evaluation of industrial effluents from consolidated breweries: A case study from Benue State, Nigeria. In River Basin Management - Under a Changing Climate. IntechOpen.

Odenigbo, C. O., et al. (2021). Impact of brewery effluent discharge into Niger River (A case study of Interfact Brewery Plc Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria). IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, 18(4), 54–63.

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